wow what?!??!!?
i might actually like this rose tea!
good job ATR. something about this tea is a bit more of an earthy rose perhaps. or could be the black base. either way, i might consider it my favorite rose tea so far. (don’t be mislead though, cuz in honesty rose teas really aren’t my thing. not my preference.)

i drank this last night too. the last day of 2013.
getting individual cups in my belly so i can start the new year with 600 teas tasted. this tea was # 597.

again with the cinnamon!
i think i knew which teas wouldn’t interest me from the advent calendar and saved them all for last cuz ie procrastinated. some that i expected to not like really did surprise me! but still a few of the teas were exactly what i expected. i gave it a go anyways :)

again i drank this one last night.
i bought chinese for the whole house to eat for new years eve dinner and we drank fancy beers until midnight. i was nice and relaxed and low stress.
i also finished the infinity scarf i was knitting.
i’m wearing it now. and it’s very comfy.
so that was the end to my year in a nutshell. and it was just as it should be.

i guess it’s just natural to drink apple teas and compare them all to each other.
this one falls somewhere in the middle of my tastes.
i think the flavors of apple and black tea naturally make a really complimentary combination, so maybe when too many other flavors get involved my interest starts to wayne.
glad i bought it though! apple teas are never a mistake :)

i like puerhs a lot, and i love coconut and chocolate, but something about this tea was a bit to chai for me?
i’m gonna definitely have it again and maybe add some milk and agave. i bet it will grow on me. it probably just wasn’t really what i was in the mood for is all.

even more of a side note,
i know you’re not supposed to ever talk about money, politics, or religion.
but steepster is such a kind and friendly and still kinda generic arena that maybe it’d be okay to share the fact that, as of right now, i am completely out of debt. no credit card. no student loans. no utilities due. no large looming costs on the horizon.
i may not have a car or a house or much savings, but along with the meaningful relationships and bonds in my life, plus my health and also art to experience, i now blissfully have a certain amount of freedom that having no debt can offer me in the coming year.
i feel insanely grateful. i mean, i worked really hard, but i still feel like it involves a certain amount of luck too.
(i work hard to be good, and i fail sometimes, and i also beat myself up too much, but i try to repair and fix it all whenever possible. my heart my heart.)
i just hope that i am deserving of this new development during the year to come.

yesterday i went to dinner with two other tea drinkers. they are ladies who like white teas and green teas and rooibos more than me. so i did this awesome thing where i packed up all the pooibos (HAHAHATYPO! i’m keepin it) and a a few greens i didn’t need anymore into my little tea share bags and gave them both samples and they loved them!
win win!!
they get new teas to try and enjoy for free, and i get to enjoy a brilliant beautiful cleaned out tea stash for the new year!!
i freakin love my tea stash now! so very beautiful.
i could close my eyes and pick almost any tea and drink something i’ll enjoy.
and that’s how things should be eh?
less rooibos in 2014.